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ADVANCE MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES SUMMARY - March 2008
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Intention to Revise Retail Estimates: Monthly retail sales estimates will be revised based on the results of the 2006 Annual Retail Trade Survey. Revised not adjusted and corresponding adjusted data are scheduled for release on April 30, 2008.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $381.4 billion, an increase of 0.2 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month and 2.0 percent (±0.7%) above March 2007. Total sales for the January through March 2008 period were up 2.9 percent (±0.3%) from the same period a year ago. The January 2008 to February 2008 percent change was revised from -0.6 percent (±0.5%) to -0.4 percent (±0.2%).
Retail trade sales were up 0.1 percent (±0.5%)* from February 2008 and were 1.8 percent (±0.8%) above last year. Gasoline station sales were up 18.9 percent (±2.6%) from March 2007 and sales of nonstore retailers were up 8.7 percent (±2.0%) from last year.
The advance estimates are based on a subsample of the Census Bureau’s full retail and food services sample. A stratified random sampling method is used to select approximately 5,000 retail and food services firms whose sales are then weighted and benchmarked to represent the complete universe of over three million retail and food services firms. Responding firms account for approximately 65% of the MARTS dollar volume estimate. For an explanation of the measures of sampling variability included in this report, please see the Reliability of Estimates section on the last page of this publication.
* The 90 percent confidence interval includes zero. The Census Bureau does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different than zero.
The Advance Monthly Sales for Retail and Food Services for April is scheduled to be released May 13, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. EDT.
TABLE 1A. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--March 2008
Estimates adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes.
(Total sales estimates are shown in millions of dollars and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey, Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(2)
(In Millions of dollars)
2008 2008 2008 2007 2007
NAICS(1) Kind of Business Mar(3) Feb Jan Mar Feb
Code (a) (p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 381,416 380,830 382,189 374,033 370,030
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 306,151 305,717 306,149 296,273 292,423
Retail ....................................... 343,003 342,530 343,813 337,047 333,512
GAFO(4).......................................... (*) 97,993 98,249 98,522 96,373
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 75,265 75,113 76,040 77,760 77,607
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 68,955 68,817 69,822 71,467 71,460
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 9,697 9,730 9,853 10,435 10,380
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 9,334 9,372 9,369 9,220 9,266
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) 7,590 7,619 7,428 7,429
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) 1,782 1,750 1,792 1,837
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 27,916 28,372 28,413 29,982 29,293
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) 24,190 24,243 26,067 25,695
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 49,123 48,938 48,956 47,103 46,895
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 43,856 43,740 43,789 41,909 41,788
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) 3,473 3,465 3,343 3,291
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 20,244 20,269 20,163 19,550 19,380
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) 16,918 16,835 16,464 16,402
447 Gasoline stations................................ 40,545 40,106 40,321 34,090 33,207
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 18,605 18,702 18,870 18,903 18,548
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (S) (S) (S) (S)
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) 3,341 3,319 3,414 3,340
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) 2,277 2,262 2,304 2,219
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 7,694 7,588 7,622 7,425 7,249
452 General merchandise stores....................... 48,474 48,771 48,611 48,486 46,982
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 16,988 16,988 16,970 17,722 17,574
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(5)............... (*) (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) 31,783 31,641 30,764 29,408
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) 28,132 27,920 27,175 25,927
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) 3,651 3,721 3,589 3,481
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 10,190 10,190 10,316 10,243 10,024
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 25,916 25,379 25,279 23,850 24,681
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) 16,960 16,894 16,138 16,162
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 38,413 38,300 38,376 36,986 36,518
(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business.
(NA) Not available (S) Suppressed (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
(2) Estimates are concurrently adjusted for seasonal variation and for holiday and trading day differences, but not for price changes. Concurrent seasonal adjustment
uses all available unadjusted estimates as input to the X-12 ARIMA program. The factors derived from the program are used in calculating all seasonally
adjusted estimates shown in this table. Year-to-date seasonally adjusted sales estimates are not tabulated. Adjustment factors and explanatory material can be found
on the Internet at http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html
(3) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample.
(4) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & clothing accessories(448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise(452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores(4532).
(5) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.
TABLE 1B. ESTIMATED MONTHLY SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--March 2008
Estimates not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(In Millions of dollars and Annual Percent Change)
3 month total
% Chg. 2008 2008 2008 2007 2007
NAICS(1) Kind of Business 2008 from Mar(2) Feb Jan Mar Feb
Code 2007 (a) (p) (r)
Retail & food services, total.................... 1,080,037 3.8 380,177 351,048 348,812 379,742 327,624
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts)............ 863,259 5.6 301,119 280,492 281,648 294,878 257,427
Retail ....................................... 968,705 3.6 340,881 314,663 313,161 341,277 294,356
GAFO(3).......................................... (*) (*) (*) 87,981 85,492 94,161 83,015
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... 216,778 -2.5 79,058 70,556 67,164 84,864 70,197
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................. 198,810 -2.8 72,679 64,688 61,443 78,256 64,671
44111 New car dealers................................ (*) (*) (*) 52,151 50,363 63,804 53,428
4413 Auto parts, acc. & tire stores.................. (*) (*) (*) 5,868 5,721 6,608 5,526
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. 27,522 -5.9 9,309 9,020 9,193 10,362 9,249
4421 Furniture stores................................ (*) (*) (*) 5,178 5,187 5,641 5,324
4422 Home furnishings stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 3,842 4,006 4,721 3,925
443 Electronics & appliance stores.................... 26,413 1.7 8,604 8,916 8,893 8,691 8,449
44311,13 Appl., T.V. & camera........................... (*) (*) (*) 7,241 7,192 6,901 6,783
44312 Computer & software stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 1,675 1,701 1,790 1,666
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers 72,966 -4.8 27,070 22,930 22,966 29,956 22,771
4441 Building mat. & supplies dealers................ (*) (*) (*) 20,078 20,510 25,728 20,479
445 Food & beverage stores........................... 143,225 6.3 49,200 46,145 47,880 47,224 42,535
4451 Grocery stores.................................. 129,242 6.6 44,207 41,509 43,526 42,286 38,194
4453 Beer, wine & liquor stores...................... (*) (*) (*) 3,049 2,904 3,176 2,748
446 Health & personal care stores.................... 61,222 5.1 20,811 20,127 20,284 20,254 18,450
44611 Pharmacies & drug stores........................ (*) (*) (*) 16,800 17,088 17,024 15,631
447 Gasoline stations................................ 111,837 22.2 39,612 35,654 36,571 33,817 28,292
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... 48,356 1.4 17,883 16,050 14,423 18,250 15,307
44811 Men's clothing stores........................... (*) (*) (*) 698 708 802 691
44812 Women's clothing stores......................... (*) (*) (*) 2,776 2,592 3,452 2,665
44814 Family clothing stores.......................... (*) (*) (*) 5,781 5,419 7,260 5,457
4482 Shoe stores..................................... (*) (*) (*) 2,045 1,785 2,359 1,913
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores....... 20,365 5.3 6,971 6,184 7,210 6,868 5,647
452 General merchandise stores....................... 132,888 3.9 46,544 44,249 42,095 46,243 40,844
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 43,874 -2.5 16,063 14,443 13,368 16,493 14,426
4521 Department stores (incl. L.D.)(4)............... (*) (*) (*) 14,815 13,717 16,934 14,806
4529 Other general merchandise stores................ (*) (*) (*) 29,806 28,727 29,750 26,418
45291 Warehouse clubs & supercenters................. (*) (*) (*) 26,557 25,631 26,305 23,438
45299 All other gen. merchandise stores.............. (*) (*) (*) 3,249 3,096 3,445 2,980
453 Miscellaneous store retailers.................... 28,415 2.1 9,482 9,350 9,583 9,866 8,849
454 Nonstore retailers............................... 78,718 7.6 26,337 25,482 26,899 24,882 23,766
4541 Electronic shopping & mail-order houses......... (*) (*) (*) 15,705 16,573 16,106 14,400
722 Food services & drinking places.................. 111,332 5.5 39,296 36,385 35,651 38,465 33,268
(*) Advance estimates are not available for this kind of business.
(NA) Not available (a) Advance estimate (p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(1) For a full description of the NAICS codes used in this table, see http://www.census.gov/epcd/www/naics.html
(2) Advance estimates are based on early reports obtained from a small sample of firms selected from the larger Monthly Retail Trade Survey (MRTS) sample.
All other estimates are from the MRTS sample.
(3) GAFO represents firms which specialize in department store types of merchandise and is comprised of furniture & home furnishings (442), electronics & appliances (443),
clothing & clothing accessories(448), sporting goods, hobby, book, and music (451), general merchandise(452), office supply, stationery, and gift stores(4532).
(4) Estimates include data for leased departments operated within department stores. Data for this line are not included in broader kind-of-business totals.
TABLE 2A. ESTIMATED CHANGE IN SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--March 2008
Estimates adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(*)
Mar Feb
2008 2008
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Feb Mar Jan Feb
Code 2008 2007 2008 2007
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +0.2 +2.0 -0.4 +2.9
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +0.1 +3.3 -0.1 +4.5
Retail .................................. +0.1 +1.8 -0.4 +2.7
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +0.2 -3.2 -1.2 -3.2
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers............... +0.2 -3.5 -1.4 -3.7
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. -0.3 -7.1 -1.2 -6.3
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... -0.4 +1.2 0.0 +1.1
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers -1.6 -6.9 -0.1 -3.1
445 Food & beverage stores........................... +0.4 +4.3 0.0 +4.4
4451 Grocery stores.................................. +0.3 +4.6 -0.1 +4.7
446 Health & personal care stores.................... -0.1 +3.5 +0.5 +4.6
447 Gasoline stations................................ +1.1 +18.9 -0.5 +20.8
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... -0.5 -1.6 -0.9 +0.8
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +1.4 +3.6 -0.4 +4.7
452 General merchandise stores....................... -0.6 0.0 +0.3 +3.8
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... 0.0 -4.1 +0.1 -3.3
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... 0.0 -0.5 -1.2 +1.7
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +2.1 +8.7 +0.4 +2.8
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +0.3 +3.9 -0.2 +4.9
(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from adjusted estimates provided in Table 1A of this report.
TABLE 2B. ESTIMATED CHANGE IN SALES FOR RETAIL AND FOOD SERVICES, BY KIND OF BUSINESS--March 2008
Data not adjusted for seasonal variations and holiday and trading-day differences and price changes.
(Estimates are shown as percents and are based on data from the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Survey,
Monthly Retail Trade Survey, and administrative records.)(*)
Mar Feb
2008 2008
adv. prel.
from-- from--
NAICS Kind of Business Feb Mar Jan Feb
Code 2008 2007 2008 2007
(p) (r) (r) (r)
Retail & food Services, total.................... +8.3 +0.1 +0.6 +7.1
Total (excl. motor vehicle & parts ).......... +7.4 +2.1 -0.4 +9.0
Retail .................................. +8.3 -0.1 +0.5 +6.9
441 Motor vehicle & parts dealers.................... +12.1 -6.8 +5.1 +0.5
4411,4412 Auto & other motor veh. dealers................ +12.4 -7.1 +5.3 0.0
442 Furniture & home furnishings stores.............. +3.2 -10.2 -1.9 -2.5
443 Electronics & appliance stores................... -3.5 -1.0 +0.3 +5.5
444 Building material & garden eq. & supplies dealers +18.1 -9.6 -0.2 +0.7
445 Food & beverage stores........................... +6.6 +4.2 -3.6 +8.5
4451 Grocery stores.................................. +6.5 +4.5 -4.6 +8.7
446 Health & personal care stores.................... +3.4 +2.8 -0.8 +9.1
447 Gasoline stations................................ +11.1 +17.1 -2.5 +26.0
448 Clothing & clothing accessories stores........... +11.4 -2.0 +11.3 +4.9
451 Sporting goods, hobby, book & music stores........ +12.7 +1.5 -14.2 +9.5
452 General merchandise stores....................... +5.2 +0.7 +5.1 +8.3
4521 Department stores (ex. L.D.).................... +11.2 -2.6 +8.0 +0.1
453 Miscellaneous stores retailers................... +1.4 -3.9 -2.4 +5.7
454 Nonstore retailers............................... +3.4 +5.8 -5.3 +7.2
722 Food services & drinking places.................. +8.0 +2.2 +2.1 +9.4
(p) Preliminary estimate (r) Revised estimate
(*) Estimates shown in this table are derived from not adjusted estimates provided in Table 1B of this report.
SOURCE: Advance Monthly Sales for Retail Trade and Food Services--MARCH 2008 (Press Release available without charge from Public Information Office, Bureau of the Census Washington, D.C. 20233). Survey methodology and measures of sampling variability are documented in the Advance Press Release. Questions concerning this report should be directed to Aneta Lukasik (301) 763-2713.